


you're just like a dream

by animmortalist



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Temporary Amnesia, basically amnesia made them do it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animmortalist/pseuds/animmortalist
Summary: When Hailey gets a head injury on the job and has amnesia, she forgets a lot of key details. Her job, coworkers, and the fact that she and Jay Halstead are not indeed married. Queue a stunned Jay, an embarrassed Hailey, and one hell of a first kiss.
Relationships: Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 8
Kudos: 98





	you're just like a dream

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! this is my first fic for upstead and it is completely @shaeheda on twitter's fault. she's an icon and the biggest upstead shipper I know. this one is dedicated to her. 
> 
> hope you enjoy and sending love 💞
> 
> *title from 'Just Like Heaven' by The Cure*

Hailey sees one of the perps take off while the rest of Intelligence is cuffing the other members of the crew and securing the military-grade guns. She barely even thinks before following, her feet hitting the concrete floor. Boots echoing as she does. Vaguely, she hears the sound of someone calling out for her. But she doesn’t let it register. There’s no way she’s letting this White Supremacist asshole who ruined her Saturday night get away. 

She smells her own sweat and feels the rapid beat of her heart. Just another day on the job. Which, honestly, she knows there’s been worse. Far worse. It doesn’t make her any less annoyed that this _dick_ is making her run half a mile up and down stairs around a warehouse just so she can arrest his ass. 

Gun out and adrenaline pumping, she rounds a corner. Part of her is aware of the blinding pain. The grunt she makes as she hits the floor. The clatter of a two-by-four. The shouts. The lights. And Jay’s face, too. Concern written all over his features, enough that if she wasn’t in and out of consciousness, she would’ve made fun of him for it. Hailey goes to make a joke anyway, to tell them how fine she is. Before she can though, everything goes black. 

* * *

Pain and light and too loud clicking and beeping and somewhere she thinks she hears someone with a low, raspy voice cursing someone else out. Her name is Hailey, she thinks. But it doesn’t feel like her name. It feels like it belongs to someone else. Still, she’s somehow sure. Her name is Hailey.

Her eyes blink open and then snap shut. Way too bright. So much it hurts. 

But then she’s being prodded and says, “Hailey? Are you awake Hailey?”

Damn, she wishes she really _wasn’t_ Hailey. Maybe if she was someone else, then she’d be able to sleep more. Or at least be able to ignore the nurse who’s now hovering over her. 

“Hailey, are you awake?” the nurse asks again. 

“Unfortunately,” she gets out, already trying to sit up in bed. 

The nurse doesn’t like that one bit though, and she’s forced back down against the bed. 

She huffs out, “I’m fine,” and opens her eyes fully so she can glower at this nurse. Maybe even pity her into giving her an extra thing of pudding. She hadn’t realized it before, but she’s starving. It makes her wonder how long she’s been out. 

And then it hits her. She can’t remember how or why she’s here in the first place. Just a throbbing in her head and a fogginess she can’t clear away. 

“Welcome back.” The nurse gives her what is meant to be a comforting smile, but it’s far from comforting. It makes her hand go to her hip. For what? She doesn’t know. 

And then some guy is running into her room. He’s hot, she’s gotta say. And then feels bad about it. Like she’s objectifying him. Which she isn't, for the record. He’s hot. That’s a fact. One of the only facts she can really be sure of right now, so she kind of clings to Hot Guy. 

“Hailey,” he’s practically gasping. He grabs her hand, green eyes wide, and his hand is cold but somehow better at making her feel comforted than the nurse’s smile. “You scared the freakin’ crap out of me, you know that?” He shakes his head and swallows. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Hot Guy cares about her and it’s way more awesome than that annoying nurse. 

Annoying Nurse starts fussing over Hot Guy after a minute though. Despite the fact that, as much as Hailey doesn’t know why she’s in a hospital bed, she’s pretty sure she’s the one that should be fussed over. But apparently, Nurse and Hot Guy are well acquainted. 

“Laurel,” Hot Guy says while Hailey does her best to sit up a little. “It’s been four days, can you chill like,” he holds up two fingers, “this much for five minutes?”

Hailey’s disappointed she now must call Annoying Nurse Laurel, but Hot Guy also makes her leave, so she can’t complain too much. As soon as Laurel has left them alone, with a pointed look and a tap at her watch, Hot Guy pulls up a chair besides her bed.

He blows out a breath. “Sorry for dumping your four-day vacation on you like that, but I seriously thought I was gonna lose it and then get myself kicked out of here.”

She snorts, despite the very clear fact that she and Hot Guy know each other well even though she doesn’t know his name. It makes him brighten though, let go of some of the tension in his shoulders. She wants to do more, but she hurts all over and there’s that damn fogginess. Then there’s the settling in of the fact that she’s been out for four days. Fuck. That Thai food she ordered last for dinner is definitely bad. 

The thought gives her a spark of hope. She might not remember what she does for a living or who Hot Guy is or if she’s allergic to anything, but it’s something. At this point, she’ll take it. 

He reads the worry that must be on her face because he strokes a thumb over her hand. She looks down at it, kind of in wonder. 

Blinking rapidly, a million questions fire in her head. 

“Shit,” he lets out. “You don’t remember that piece of crap hitting you over the head, do you?”

Well, at least she can be honest about that. She shakes her head. 

He nods, berating himself a little. Which she kind of hates and gets the sense that it might be her job to tell him to quit it. But she doesn’t know where to even begin. 

“Of course, that’s normal. Just…” he trails off. “I bet you feel like crap, but you okay?”

It occurs to her that he’s expecting an answer. And maybe not from her. But from _Hailey_ and whoever she is to him. 

She tries for the right thing, she does, but what comes out is, “Who are you?” Mostly because he is stupidly pretty, and she really wants to know. 

The look of horror on his face makes her regret it though. But once it’s out there, she can’t take it back. He runs a hand over his mouth and then he calls for Laurel and someone named Voight and he’s still holding her hand but she’s starting to freak out a little so she reaches out and grips onto Hot Guy with everything she’s got. 

* * *

Hailey is pissed at herself.

To elaborate, she is pissed because she hasn’t seen Hot Guy in like three hours and before he left he vowed to, “Get that son of a bitch and fry him I swear to freakin’ God,” and she thinks it’s her question about who he was that made him leave.

In her defense, she was honestly more curious than anything else. 

Now, a gray-haired police officer is sitting with her in her hospital room (she keeps saying she’s fine but Laurel ignores her every time). She thinks she’s supposed to know who the police officer is because she waits a moment before telling her, “Oh, of course. I’m Sergeant Platt. You spilled hot coffee all over me once.”

“I’m...Sorry?” she tries. 

Platt allows it, sort of. “It’s mostly forgiven.” She gives her a look as she takes the seat that used to be Hot Guy’s. “Mostly.”

Hailey frowns. “I’m supposed to know you, aren’t I?”

“Yes,” she replies. “In fact, you don’t just know me.”

Her eyebrows go up. “No?”

“No.” Platt crosses her legs. “You...Sort of, idolize me, in a way.”

She wants to argue, but she doesn’t have the slightest idea how to. So, she goes with a shrug and turns back to her pudding. If anything, she’s disappointed in Hailey. Which only makes her feel worse. About everything. 

But, as long as Officer Platt is here, she figures she might be able to use her to get some information. No one else will tell her much. About what happened to her. About her job as a cop. About _her_. 

“So,” Hailey starts, scooping out a bit of pudding. “I work in a division called Intelligence?”

Sergeant Platt gives her a once over. “That’s very cute Sleeping Beauty, but nice try. Not gonna tell you anything about what they’re doing right now. The last thing we need is you setting off on your own little adventure chasing after bad guys like some PG-13 _Finding Dory._ ”

That isn’t even what she’s demanding or asking for, really. What she was trying to say is that she wants details about herself. About her relationships. Though part of her is terrified of it, and what it could mean, she wonders about Hot Guy. And not just because he’s obviously pretty. But also because of the look in his eye when he saw she was awake. Of the way he held her hand. Of how he worried about her and clearly established a relationship with Laurel for her. It must mean something. But it feels dangerous to even ask what it is. 

She knows she can get Sergeant Platt to talk, it just has to be tactical. Laurel let slip that she’s a detective with Intelligence. It should come to her even if the memories don’t. 

Clearing her throat, she words carefully, “So Sergeant...Are you my direct supervisor?”

“What did I just say?” she asks. “Did you bump your head again?”

Hailey bites her lip. Crap. “If you tell me about who I am, I promise not to go after them.” Platt raises a brow. “And I’ll give you the last chocolate pudding.”

For a moment, she thinks the Sergeant is going to refuse her offer. But then, she relents, plucking the pudding and a plastic spoon of her tray. Hailey grins. 

“Don’t look so smug, your life isn’t all that great,” she says around a mouthful of pudding.

Hailey nods solemnly. “So, divorced?”

Platt makes a face. “No, not yet.”

“Ah.” They’re getting somewhere now. “So I’m with someone.”

At that, the Sergeant makes another face and Hailey starts to doubt herself before she tells her, “You have a partner.”

She brightens. “Is it the guy from before? The angry, hot one?” 

It’s probably best to skip the crap, she assumes. Especially when she doesn’t remember Platt enough to tell whether or not she should even be embarrassed by saying this stuff. It might not be the most professional but screw it. She has amnesia, after all. 

Sergeant Platt looks like she’s going to disagree with her, and she’s kind of disappointed, as pathetic as that sounds. He was fun, and nice, and made her feel good. There could’ve been worse things. But just as she figures she’s going to lay down some hard truths for Hailey, she nods. 

“Yes.” She licks her spoon. “That’s Jay Halstead and he is your... _Partner_.”

Hailey is so proud of herself, she knew it. “Alright, now that I can work with.” A thought paralyzes her. “Wait...Are we getting a divorce? Is it ugly? Oh god—” she starts to spiral.

Thankfully, Sergeant Platt cuts her off. “Enough. No, you’re not. Your... _Partnership_ is just fine.”

She blows out a breath. What a relief. In the course of an hour (and two more puddings she practically has to beg Laurel for) Platt tells her a smattering of other things. Her full name is Hailey Upton. Platt’s first name is Trudy. Voight is the kind of scary, raspy-voiced guy she heard cursing someone out before. Jay Halstead and her have worked and been together for years, and seem to be doing pretty well. And she got her injury by being knocked unconscious while pursuing a White Supremacist during a drug raid. Really, she’s a badass. Go, Hailey. 

Look, she does know it is wrong and she’s a lying liar who lies. But really, who was she kidding? Of course, she planned to high-tail it out of the hospital as soon as Platt’s back was turned. It’s awful, really, and definitely not a move Laurel would approve of. But she’s worried about her unit. She’s worried about Jay. Better to ask for forgiveness later on. 

She gathers up her clothes and gets on the L, letting it take her to the police precinct. Muscle memory seems to carry her there, especially once she gets off her stop and is lost for a moment. She finds her way in the end. Just like she knew she would. 

After all, she’s Hailey Upton. She’s a badass. 

To her utmost delight, she can get into the police precinct without much fanfare. 

Only Sergeant Platt is there behind the desk when she walks in. Which...Crap. She wasn’t anticipating that. 

“What the hell are you doing here Dory?” she demands.

Hailey shrugs. “Went for a walk.”

Her jaw actually drops, which she kind of feels vaguely proud of herself for being able to do. She doesn’t think this is a common occurrence, rendering Sergeant Platt speechless. It’s impressive, some weird part of her thinks. It’s sort of nice, but when Platt narrows her eyes at her, the feeling turns to mild terror. 

Then Jay and Ruzek (she made Platt show her pictures of everyone in her unit) walk in. 

“Jay!” She bounds at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

He’s surprised by her throwing herself at him, she can tell. But he doesn’t push her away, which makes her feel much better about it. Instead, he wraps his arms around her. Pulling her in close, she nuzzles her head into his neck. He smells good, she thinks. Which would be creepy if he wasn’t her husband. But Platt told her over and over they’re partners, so it’s allowed. 

She pulls away, extracting herself after Ruzek clears his throat. Maybe he does that a lot, she wonders. It makes her grin up at Jay, a little nervous now. Ruzek rolls his eyes and she swats him. 

It’s then that Jay’s face finally breaks into one of joy as well. “You remember?” he asks, amazed. He huffs out a breath. “I can’t believe it. I know the doctors were saying that it could be—”

She’s sort of blown away by her own emotions though, unable to contain what she feels for him. Feelings she might not have known what to do with before but now that Platt let her know about her and Jay, she perfectly understands them. It’s been right there in front of her this whole time. It just took her a little bit longer than she would’ve liked to figure it all out. 

Before Jay can get anything else out, Hailey pulls him down by the jacket and kisses him senseless. Well, as senseless as she can manage. Her head still hurts a little. 

When she realizes where the hell they are, she feels sheepish and embarrassed. More like mortified. She releases him. 

“Sorry.” She laughs, despite everything that tells her she definitely shouldn’t have done that. She doesn’t care, and some part of her _knows_ it was the right thing to do. “I just...I remembered and…”

It’s then that she takes in the completely stunned expression on Jay’s face. He’s frozen in place, doesn’t appear as if he could be moved even if a Linebacker plowed right into him. She steps away as if being near him burns. Hailey looks at Ruzek. He’s gaping at her. Honestly, she thinks he would’ve been less shocked if she’d walked into the precinct naked. Then her eyes go to Platt. That’s when she knows she’s majorly fucked up. Because Sergeant Platt is looking at her as if she isn’t just missing a few pieces of her mind, but the whole thing. 

“Oh fuck,” she lets out. 

Jay’s blinking and swallowing and blinking and swallowing. 

Finally, he says, “I...I…”

It would be adorable if she isn’t filled with mortified horror. 

Hailey shoots a glare at Platt. “You said we were married!”

“You thought we were married?” Jay asks in a hushed tone that really does nothing to make the conversation more private.

She nods, with perhaps more exuberance than her damaged head can handle. “I never would’ve...If I didn’t think...Oh, god.” Her breathing turns rapid and she manages, “Platt said we were partners!”

Platt still doesn’t contribute to the conversation, which, honestly, Hailey thinks is both fair and not at the same time. 

Jay coughs. “Yeah...Like, at work. We’re cop part—”

Hailey holds up a hand. “I realize that now, okay?”

“You didn’t think the lack of a ring meant something?” he demands, which Hailey tries to be sympathetic about, but _really_?

“I thought we were cool and progressive and above showing our love through monetary objects!” she bursts out, far too loud, she thinks. 

Jay can’t stop giving her this look. Like she’s dropped him in a giant bathtub with a toaster and said, “Swim, baby!” But there’s something to the way his eyes find hers and his breathing. Like he doesn’t hate what she did. Maybe how she did it. But despite the fact that they are most definitely not married, she wonders if he felt how good of a kiss (however brief) it was, too.

“Why did you kiss me though?” he asks.

“Because!” She waves her arms. As if that’s a feasible answer. 

Ruzek is now standing by Platt and they’re taking turns looking at each and then Hailey and Jay. She hates them. If she and Jay weren’t yelling at one another, she’d propose they go after the two of them together. She isn’t sure how, but she knows they’d wipe the floor with them. 

“Because?” he repeats since that is obviously so useful. 

But there must really be someone watching out for her though because before anything else can go wrong because of her misinterpreting things, the room goes a bit blurry. She can’t stay on her feet and everything starts to shift under her. Trying to get a handle on her breathing, Jay offers an arm for her to grab onto. But it’s too late. She passes out. Goodnight, Hailey. 

* * *

Hailey is hiding in her hospital room.

Before, she couldn’t wait to get out of it. Now, she never wants to leave. Which is going to be a problem because her memories have finally returned. Like all of them. Even the horrifying ones that inform her just how insane it was for her to kiss Jay. In front of Ruzek and Sergeant Platt. Like a lunatic. Shit, she practically tackled him. She doesn’t know how she’s ever going to face any of them ever again. But mostly, she doesn’t know how she and Jay are meant to move past this. 

Hence her feeling like she’s gonna throw up when Jay walks into her room.

“I told Laurel not to let you in here!” she exclaims and dives under blankets. 

In hindsight, it’s not the best admission. 

He takes in stride, to his credit. When did he become so calm, cool, and collected about this situation? Part of her is jealous and the other relieved. 

“It turns out Laurel likes me better than you,” Jay says. “Since you’re such a jailbird and everything.”

He takes a chair and drags it over to her bed. She vaguely wishes a black hole will open up under her bed and she’ll be sucked through it into oblivion. It would be better than dealing with her mistake. With the rejection, as soft as Jay will make it, that she’s sure she’s going to receive. 

“Well, someone passed out on me before they answered my question. And then they dodged my calls and texts for a week.” He shrugs like they’re not talking about one of the stupidest things she’s ever done. “So, I decided I had to come and get my answer.”

She scoffs. “I had _amnesia_! And Platt, you should’ve heard how she gave me that information, she screwed with me on purpose and…” She swallows. “I have my memories back now, so…” She gives him a fake smile, all phony cheer. “It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal?” he says, slowly, as if he thinks there’s some secret meaning to them.

Hailey doesn’t want to admit it, but there might be. 

“Yep.” She nods, far too many times. “We can just...Forget the whole thing ever happened. You know, it was a crazy week and that’s—”

“Hailey,” he interrupts. There’s a slight dip in his tone like he’s trying to cover something up. Something like nerves. It doesn’t make sense, a piece of her tries to say. But then, doesn’t it? 

Maybe the amnesia version of her saw things a lot more clearly than either one of them could. 

He takes a breath, and now she knows for certain he’s nervous. Tentatively, she puts out her hand a little bit closer to where his own rest on the bed. For a moment, he stares at it. But then he grasps her hand in his, and the calluses on his fingers set her at ease even as her heart beats rapidly. 

“I want you,” he tells her. “Do you…” he trails off, and she knows he doesn’t want to finish it not because he’s afraid, but because he wants to give her the room to say what she wants. 

It takes a moment for it to register, but once it does, she flashes a brilliant smile. This one’s all real, no fake effort required. 

Hailey nods. “Yeah, I might want you, too.” She bites her lip. “You know, a little bit, just a dash, or a smidge or—”

Jay’s grinning when he leans in. “I’m gonna kiss you now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she allows. “But it’s a sprinkle of want, a pinch, a—”

She’s cut off though by about the best damn kiss that hospital ever saw. 

Laurel comes in to find Jay half in the bed five minutes later and declares that Hailey _must_ leave that day. Neither of them complains about that. This hospital couldn’t handle her anyway. 

Her name is Hailey Upton, and she’s awesome. But she thinks she might be a bit more awesome now that she’s actually dating Jay Halstead.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading ❤︎
> 
> find me on tumblr (@animmortalist)


End file.
